Serpent: Resurrection - RPG System

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A standalone version of the RPG system plus weapons, items, armour etc. from Serpent: Resurrection. Compatible with any Hexen wad that has no additional weapons/items etc. (although it wouldn't really work well with less than 3 hubs)

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Graf Zahl (for GZDoom and the additional coding which made things like new monsters and weapons possible).

Grubber (for creating the unofficial build that kept us all going with new features while Randy was reworking the main ZDoom code) Enjay (the flashlight in BGPA led me to discover dynamic lights, which proved revolutionary) DRD Team (for the SVN repository and file hosting server) The creators of all the editors I used to make this happen. The creators of all the resources I used to make this happen. (see serp-rpgc.txt for a full list of resources & authors)

The class menu doesn't show properly, due to there being 7 classes now. To see the portraits (which contain all the stats for each class now), go to the "character info" section of the menu.

Text File

Updated Mar 2016 with a few fixes for the new official GZDoom 2.1 version.
=================================================================================================
Title : Serpent: Resurrection - RPG System

Misc. Author Info : A hardcore Doomer who loves all it's similar
games and some others but still thinks Doom is best.
Has decided to make Hexen levels.

Description : A standalone version of the RPG system plus weapons, items,
armour etc. from Serpent: Resurrection. Compatible with
any Hexen wad that has no additional weapons/items etc.
(although it wouldn't really work well with less than 3 hubs)

Additional Credits To: Randy Heit (for ZDoom).

Graf Zahl (for GZDoom and the additional coding which made
things like new monsters and weapons possible).

Grubber (for creating the unofficial build that kept us all
going with new features while Randy was reworking
the main ZDoom code)
Enjay (the flashlight in BGPA led me to discover dynamic
lights, which proved revolutionary)
DRD Team (for the SVN repository and file hosting server)
The creators of all the editors I used to make this happen.
The creators of all the resources I used to make this happen.
(see serp-rpgc.txt for a full list of resources & authors)

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This is a standalone version of the RPG system from Serpent: Resurrection - if you've played this
adventure, the changes are listed below:

Players now start with 5 jump boots as extra items, this is to account for the lower jump height
that the player has with less dexterity.
(as some of the required jumps might not be doable without boots)

Weapons and mana spawn in pairs, but give half the amount they used to. Kraters of might have a
fair chance of being replaced by a mana battery of each type. The seeker wand is not present.

The new armour types share spawns with the existing ones, using a random spawner type setup with
an equal chance of appearing. Each group contains 2 armour types, based on what each of the
original 4 classes can wear.
The dragonskin bracers have been replaced with a spawner that gives the 3 armour types that all
classes can wear. (except the physadept)

Many items now share spawns, using a random spawner type setup with an equal chance of appearing.
These all replace existing items in Hexen, and the item set is the same as Serpent (minus the
potions of water breathing and fire protection, which are still in the game but won't be spawned
in this way). The potion of life, timebomb and poison vial only have a chance of spawning due to
the differences in abundance and item capacity (and power for the damage-dealing items) between
Serpent and the original Hexen.

The summoned chaos serpent and elemental spirits will no longer travel into other maps with you.

Shopping is now handled by a Hearthstone item - this is given to you at the start and never runs
out, although it can only be used once every 30 minutes. It teleports you to the shopping map,
which also has a holy temple. Exiting the map will return you to the map you were previously on.

The chaos serpent's attacks now match those of the summoned serpent and scale with your level,
but the melee attack is retained.

The player bosses' attacks have been changed from weapon 2/3/5/6 to weapon 4/7, to bring things
closer to the original game. The assassin player boss also appears in the game, thanks to ACS.

The heresiarch has retained his 4 additional projectile attacks, but no mini-games like Serpent.
He also has slightly less health, while Korax has twice as much as in Serpent.
=================================================================================================

Game Version Required : Hexen (v1.1) running with GZDoom. The minimum version is 1.6.00, the
recommended versions are 1.9.0 or 2.1.0 (offical builds).
These are all tried-and-tested with the mod, anything newer is probably
fine but occasionally something might break.
(if it does, use one of the offical versions above as a fallback)

Both OpenGL rendering and dynamic lights must be enabled in order for
everything to work properly, along with freelook and jumping.

Episode and Level # : None, although there is one new map for the shops.

Single Player : Yes - Built for it.

Cooperative : No - scripting is too complex.

Deathmatch : No - ditto.

Difficulty Settings : Yes - they will work differently though due to the RPG system. Instead
of the number of monsters changing between skill levels, the
following happens:

Monster speed covers movement and attack speed (ranged & melee)
but not projectile speed. (those don't change)
NOTE: The "fast monsters" setting is not used on Heroic (meaning no
constant projectile streams), and the speed changes are nowhere near
as high as Doom's demons. It should turn out more balanced this way.

Perceived attack distance is the factor that a monster's perceived
distance when deciding whether or not to shoot is reduced by. The
closer it thinks it is to you, the more likely it'll attack (allegedly).

Damage taken covers all damage from all sources, and is applied
after any other damage taken modifiers.

New Sounds : Yes

New Sprites : Yes

New Graphics : Yes

New Monsters : No - although the default Hexen monsters have retained their behaviour
changes from Serpent. The only exception is the chaos serpents,
who both behave like the summoned one in terms of attack choices.

New Weapons : Yes - 3 new weapons for each character, utilising 2 new mana types.
There is also one replacement for an existing weapon, plus two
others have slightly different behaviour.

Build Time : 1 month (to extract it from Serpent and rework it to fit any wad etc.)

Known Bugs : The class menu doesn't show properly, due to there being 7 classes now.
To see the portraits (which contain all the stats for each class now),
go to the "character info" section of the menu.

Will Not Run With : Any source port other than GZDoom.

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Special Features
=================================================================================================

This adventure is totally unique to any other Hexen adventure, in the fact that it has a full
RPG-system like those seen in table-top or computer-based fantasy role-playing games.
This, along with other features is explained below.

The 3 vanilla characters are a lot more different here than they are in normal Hexen, thanks
to the RPG system. There's also 4 other characters, all with different features and playstyles.
So choose carefully before you begin, a profile of each character is below:

Baratus - Trained in the fighting arts, you are immensly tough and strong. You can use any type
of weapon without mana and wear any type of armour, and can push your body to great
speeds and heights. You know very little in the ways of magic though, and your weapons
will burn mana very quickly. But in truth you don't care about it - magic is the affair
of book-reading milksops! You prefer a good clean fight and fear nothing and no-one.

Parias - Deeply religious, your training has developed a close alliance with your god and you are
able to harness that power to great ends. You can get special features out of weapons,
as well as a reasonable ability to use magic. While not as fast or as strong as a
trained warrior, you are still a match for many and can wear most types of armour.
You're also perhaps the most versatile of any type of adventurer.

Nerina - Skilled in the shadowy side of combat, you are not afraid to get dirty and do whatever
is required for the hit. Speed, poisons, ranged weapons, all these you can use to kill
without reply. Straight fighting is not your style, though your nimbleness can still be
useful in such a scenario. Your knowledge of magic is limited, but you still use it as
part of your toolbox when required. You can't wear heavy armour, but you prefer to be
fast and avoid hits instead. Either way, you're one tough gal that's hard to beat.

Daedolon - No bard will ever sing epic tales of your prowess with weapons, but what does that
matter? You are a master of magic - you can command spells to avoid, confuse, weaken
or defeat enemies, and can use magical weapons like no warrior ever could. However,
as your training comprised mostly of poring over dusty tomes and experimenting, you
are physically weak, slow on your feet and can wear little armour due to your slender
form. But you have many tricks up your sleeve to ensure you won't die easily.

Corvus - You are a member of the Sidhe, a race of elvish mystics who once guarded items of power.
Displaced by the Serpent Riders and branded a heretic, you had to flee your homeland.
As a hardy adventurer, you are pretty much a jack-of-all-trades and can show some degree
of proficiency at anything you try - except for magic, which you are naturally good at.
You've heard tales of an unknown great adventurer and certainly aspire to his feats,
if not his mysterious disappearance.

Doshin - You are a physical adept from a distant land, who has spent years training in the art of
unarmed combat. But you were also taught how to augment it with ancient magic, and as a
result you are also effective at range. You recieved little training in arcane magic,
however you were taught how to boost your techniques with it. Your training has given
you an immense resilience to pain and damage, but you refuse to wear armour of any kind
due to the effect it has on your techniques. A quick, tough and efficient killer.

Gurrag - You are a mediator between the very elements themselves. Your spiritual attumenent allows
you to call upon the four elements for any purpose - whether it be enhancing a weapon with
elemental force, smiting enemies from afar with concentrated power or summoning spirits to
aid you in combat. This attunement to natural forces, means that you won't use magic from
man-made sources. You're also not too fast or strong, but you can wear a lot of armour and
are also more resistant than most. Elemental forces are powerful, and you wield them well.

When you start the game, you will be in an anteroom with a switch. Press the switch to roll
your attributes. If you don't like them, you can re-roll by hitting the switch again.
The numbers are all tied together, so you won't be able to roll a superhero.

The attributes are:

Health - This determines how much health you have.
Strength - This determines the power of your melee weapon(s). It also affects the damage done
by projectiles with the power spell (except Doshin) and Gurrag's weapon imbues.
Dexterity - This determines how fast you can move, and how high you can jump.
Constitution - This determines your resilience to damage. Each point reduces the damage you take.
Wisdom - This determines how much mana (of each type) you can carry.
Sorcery - This determines how good you are at spellcasting. It's the number of magic points
you can carry (which determines what spells you can cast), and if you are Sallazar
it also affects the rate at which your magic points regenerate over time.

These attributes will have an upper limit, which varies depending on character.

Attributes can be improved every time you gain a level (see below) except health, which
improves automatically with level.

This is an interactive menu that displays your current level, EXP, the amount needed to gain
another level and your attributes. You can access this at any time during the game, but it is
recommended that you find a safe spot first (even though it won't impair vision too much).

To operate the menu, you will need to define 3-4 extra keys (go to the key config in options
and the extra keys will be there). One is needed to toggle the menu on and off, one or two
to move the cursor (only one is needed though) and one to increase each attribute when you
gain a level. The weapon keys also need to be defined, along with any hotkeys you want.

If you don't wish to define new keys for the menu, an alternative way to activate it is to press
the show scoreboard key. This will allow you to operate the menu using forward/backward/fire keys
instead of defining new ones, but will prevent all player actions while the menu is active.

Once you've gained a level, you will see a number of "skill points" at the bottom of the menu.
These are what you use to increase your attributes. Move the cursor to the relevant attribute
and press the raise key, and one of these points will be transferred. Be warned that this process
can't be undone (except with a savegame), so make sure you have the cursor on the right attribute!

Every time you kill a monster, you will gain experience points (EXP). When you reach a certain
amount of EXP, you will gain a level of skill/experience. This will enable you to increase your
attributes and do better things.

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The Monetary System
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Money comes in the form of Gold Pieces. These can be found anywhere on the island, and can also
be found on the bodies of slain enemies (depending on type).

To reach the Trader's Valley, use your Hearthstone item - but remember that you can only use it
once every 30 minutes. There are various types of shop in the valley, each dealing in a different
commodity: armour, artefacts and magic-related items.
Each can buy and sell various things, press the relevant switches to do so.

There is also a Holy Temple, which can restore health and magic points through monetary donations.

When you're done shopping, the portal will take you back to the start of the map you came from.

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The Magic System
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In addition to the new weapons and artefacts (see below), there are also a number of spells that
can be used to aid your quest. These come in the form of scrolls, which allow the user to cast a
given spell once. Each spell will use up a number of Magic points, and once it has been cast,
the user won't be able to cast that spell again for a minute. Spells that have a duration will
work across maps. Magic points can be restored by using Magic Rings or visiting a Holy Temple.
They also regenerate over time if you are Daedolon, the rate depends on your Sorcery attribute.

Note that most characters won't be able to cast every spell, due to upper limits on their
Sorcery attributes. Daedolon knows the first 2 spells off by heart, therefore does not need
a scroll to cast them. He can still pick up scrolls for those spells, but he can't use them.
If you are playing as Daedolon, the first 2 spells will appear in your inventory as the
corresponding scroll with an infinity symbol on it. There's also no need to bind an
additional key to use it, the same key will work for both normal and infinite versions.

The spells (together with costs and scroll colours) are listed below:

Power : This will improve the effect of your melee weapon(s) for 20 seconds.
(cost: 2) All of them will hit ghostly enemies and have a longer range, in addition:
(blue) Baratus' melee weapons will strike faster. (non-mana versions only)
Parias' mace will fire 3 short-range spiked balls.
Nerina's dagger will produce a cone of short-range magical slash attacks.
Daedolon's staff will fire a blue magical bolt.
Corvus' spear will hit harder with an icy touch.
Doshin's fists will hit harder, and all of his ranged techniques will
be three times more effective. (ie. all his weapons can use the spell)

Fear : This will cause enemies to run away in fear for 20 seconds. They will still
(cost: 6) attack if possible, but are less likely to do so during this time.
(black) However, if you get too close to them they will become paralysed with fear and
will be unable to move or attack for 10 seconds, this can only affect them once
during the spell. Does not affect bosses.

Shrapnel : This defensive spell will create a continuous ring of short-range crystalline
(cost: 8) shards around you for 20 seconds, guaranteed to inflict continuous pain as well
(dark red) as damage to any monsters that come close to you during this time.

Summon : This will summon a ghostly chaos serpent in front of you, who will fight on your
(cost: 10) side until it dies. Like other monsters, it's health increases as you level up
(grey) but it also gains new abilities. It's always stronger than normal serpents, and
it's ghostly nature also means it's immune to melee attacks and some projectiles.

NOTE: if you're facing too close to a wall or solid object when casting, the
serpent will not appear at all. Plus there can only be one serpent active at
any one time - if you try to cast another, the existing one will die first.

Inferno : This offensive spell will send out a ring of short-range fireballs from your
(cost: 12) location, incinerating anything in their path. Anything that lives through it
(bright red) will be thrown backwards into the air too.

Penetrate : This launches a magical ray once per second for 20 seconds. They are powerful
(cost: 15) enough to kill many normal monsters and seriously damage anything tougher.
(purple) Not only that, they will rip through any number of monsters in their path.

TimeStop : This advanced spell will stop the flow of time, freezing everything but you
(cost: 16) to the spot - including any shots fired during the spell. It lasts for
(brown) 20 seconds but a lot can be done in that time. Does not affect bosses.

Hellstorm : This will call a storm of magical rain from above, showering a wide area
(cost: 18) continuously for 20 seconds. (regardless of any walls or objects in the way)
(yellow)

Annhilation : This deadly spell will unleash a blast of energy powerful enough to light
(cost: 20) up the sky and annhilate everything in sight. It does become ineffective
(green) at a certain range though.

If you are playing as Gurrag, you can't use spells at all - instead, you get 4 elemental imbues
for your melee weapon (use alt-fire to switch between them) and each of the 4 basic weapons has the
power to summon an elemental spirit - this follows the same rules as the summoned chaos serpent,
but only lasts for 1 min (press alt-fire to do this). Each pair of abilities (they correspond to
one of the four elements) are obtained when you find the relevant basic weapon.

Health : This comes in two forms, the Crystal Vial (10) and the Potion of Life (25),
the latter of which is a purple potion that can be carried until needed.

Armour : There are eight types, some of which cannot be worn by certain classes.
Hexen's weird armour system has also been replaced with a more Doom-like one.
(but will have a traditional RPG-like display similar to Hexen)

Mana : This comes in four colours and two sizes - mana crystals and mana batteries
(amount given depends on skill level), the latter of which is a light brown
cube that can be carried until needed.

Krater of Might : This rare and powerful item restores all of your mana to maximum levels.

Magic Scrolls : These will allow you to cast one spell, one time and will use up a number of
Magic points. Comes in 10 different varieties, see the above section.

Magic Ring : These will restore a Magic point. (two if you are Daedolon)

Potion of Fire
Protection : This is a red potion will enable you to walk through lava for 30 seconds.

Potion of
Excellence : This is a golden potion that will bestow you with excellence, granting you
a skill point. Naturally these are hard to come by, and can't be traded.

Speed Boots : These will allow you to run at great speeds for 20 seconds.

Jump Boots : These will allow you to jump to great heights for 20 seconds.

Torch : This illuminates your immediate surroundings for 60 seconds.

Disc of
Repulsion : This will reflect incoming projectiles if used at the right time,
and can also be used to thrust nearby enemies away from you.

Poison Vial : This version of the flechette is now available for all classes. Drop it and
it releases a nastier-than-before poison cloud for about 20 seconds.
Nerina also uses these to poison her dagger, although they are used up very
slowly in this manner.

Timebomb of
the Ancients : This old favourite returns, and is even more powerful. Drop it on the ground
and run away before it detonates.

Porkalator : This fires 5 projectiles in a spread pattern, any monster hit will turn into
a pig for about 45 seconds. Does not work on bosses.

Force Stone : This will create a solid pillar of force in front of you for 60 seconds. The
force pillar will block all enemies and most attacks just like a real pillar.

Siren Orb : This will emit a red light over a small area for 30 seconds. All enemies who
step in this light will be forced to attack the orb. Does not work on bosses.

There are also some artefacts that are not present in this RPG mod: they are the Icon of the
Defender, Mystic Urn, Banishment Device, Chaos Device, Dragonskin Bracers and Dark Servant.
The other two versions of the flechette no longer exist, and all items with a duration will
work across maps.

The player can only carry up to 5 of each item, with the exception of the the Magic Ring (15),
Potion of Life (15) and the Disc of Repulsion (15).

All of the items have a fixed position in the inventory and will remain even if you have none of
that item (the exceptions to this are puzzle items and golden potions, plus scrolls for infinite
spells if you are Sallazar). This is to make keeping track of items a lot simpler.

Each character starts with some items too - Baratus starts with some armour, Parias with some
health potions, Nerina with some poison vials, Daedolon with some magic rings, Corvus with some
timebombs, Doshin with a power scroll and Gurrag with a blue and green mana battery.
In addition, everyone starts with some gold, jump boots (which you're advised to keep due to the
reduced jump height based on dexterity) and a Hearthstone (which never runs out).

There are 3 new weapons for each character, utilising 2 new mana types (red and yellow).
The 5th weapon will use yellow mana, the 6th weapon will use red mana, and the 7th weapon uses
both red and yellow mana. This last weapon is in 3 separate pieces, find all to use it.

There is also 1 replacement - the mage's sapphire wand has been replaced with a strong wooden
staff. This is to bring him into line with the other characters by having a melee weapon, which
the RPG system requires.

Finally there are 3 alterations - the fighter's fist will throw all 3 punches without connecting,
the fighter's hammer always fires a shot (even when too close to something) and the cleric's
serpent staff no longer drains life in melee range. (for technical reasons as well as balance)

Some characters have special features with weapons, these will be explained in-game.

Authors may NOT use the maps as a base for modification or re-use. The only exception is for
fixing any bugs that appear with newer GZDoom versions, in which case let me know and/or send
over any patches etc. so I can add them in.

Authors MAY use the resources in your own wads as long as you give the relevant author(s) credit
in your text file. (see serp-rpgc.txt for a full list of who made what)

You may distribute the project as long as you include this text file and the other files intact.

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February 28, 2015

Excellent mod that fixes much of the monotony in Hexen combat and adds more replay value, but the January 15 version no longer works no matter what version of Gzdoom I use. Specifically, it fails to roll attributes and leaves the player walking around defenseless, while spitting out constant unknown script 973 and 999 errors. The version I had downloaded early last year worked perfectly well.

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File Reviews

I guess this was meant to be a serious wad, just using a trick to make the C-Demon hard to see. I don't think it was a deliberate troll of the style that caught on later, eg Sand Chain and the Terry wads. IMHO it nowhere near holds the record for "worst wad ever" (even if it did once) so it is now "over-rated" in that respect. I was a bit disappointed, I was expecting worse LoL.

Doomers these days have varying levels of patience. I know I have some of the worst when it comes to quickly finishing areas and moving on, which is why I prefer shorter levels most of the time. this particular map, a Maximum Doom map by the way, is one that completely tested my patience.
this is 8 levels long, from E1M1 to E1M8, and is sort of a proto-slaughtermap episode replacement. every map here has at least 200 monsters, and the layouts of each say that they are compact in size. so the action would be pretty good and fun right?
WRONG
while it's fun to kill all these enemies, this is honestly horribly balanced. on the first level, you only really get a shotgun and a chaingun, and it took me a while to get just one armor too. is that the worst part? I can actually enjoy the challenge of such a gameplay scenario so no. what's problematic about each and every level in this wad is that when you're not killing enemies, you're just sort of fucking around. in other words, you're switch hunting. but this is the worst kind due to lifts that have zero indications that they are lifts, as well as switches that have zero indication of what they did. not to mention some walls are triggers, when they really don't have any indication that they really do anything. oh yes, and mandatory secrets and backtracking. I would like the combat more if it gave more weapons too, not one plasma gun or BFG in sight, and all that backtracking just...fucking...headdesk. there's no reliable way to even speedrun this, to the point where I wonder if the author ever realized that other's would tire the fuck out over it. "these are the easy ones" this has all the hallmarks of a bad Maximum Doom map.
it's amazing how varied my Maximum Doom experience is so far. there are some really fun maps, mediocre but quick maps, and some long and nasty ones. I'm honestly trying to avoid reviewing any maps from there but i'll make an exception for this particular one since it's just unbelievably bad.

More an exercise in 3-d artwork than a game. Just someone's bedroom with a HK in a tiny lobby outside the door, and a Caco in a tiny yard outside the window. A BFG and Invisibilty Sphere are also in the yard but you can't get out there. I think the name is a clue - maybe this was the start of a bigger level, then abandoned. He ought to have allowed it as a base for development.